FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 30, 2021

CINEMA GUILD ACQUIRES BERLIN ENCOUNTERS
WINNER ROCK BOTTOM RISER

NEW YORK, NY (March 30, 2021) - Cinema Guild announced today the acquisition of North American distribution rights to Rock Bottom Riser the first feature by celebrated film artist Fern Silva. The film won a Special Mention from the Encounters jury at the 2021 Berlin International Film Festival when it premiered earlier this month. U.S. premiere dates are soon to be announced with a 35mm theatrical tour planned for 2022.

From the earliest voyagers who navigated by starlight, to present-day astronomers scanning the cosmos for habitable planets, explorers have long made Hawaii the hub for their searching. Today—as lava continues to flow on the island—another crisis mounts as scientists plan to build the world’s largest telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s most sacred and revered mountain.

In his dynamic feature debut, Fern Silva examines myriad encounters with an island world at sea. Drawing from subjects as seemingly disparate as the arrival of Christian missionaries and the controversial casting of Dwayne Johnson as King Kamehameha, the film weaves a vital tapestry of post-colonialism and pop culture with cinematic brio and a wry wit. Rock Bottom Riser is an essential document and an exhilarating tour-de-force, a palimpsest that traverses geology, ethnography and astronomy.

“Is it more important for a film to ask significant questions about what we’re doing here on this planet or is it better if it takes you for a ride?” asked Cinema Guild President Peter Kelly. “Luckily, with Rock Bottom Riser, audiences don’t have to choose.”

The deal was negotiated by Peter Kelly of Cinema Guild with Silva.

Cinema Guild is a premier distributor of world cinema, independent films and documentaries, whose upcoming releases include Jia Zhangke's Swimming Out Till the Sea Turns Blue, Hong Sangsoo's The Woman Who Ran and Rodrigo Reyes' 499. Recent releases include Éric Baudelaire's Un Film Dramatique, Lynne Sachs' Film About a Father Who and RaMell Ross's Academy Award-nominated Hale County This Morning, This Evening.

For press inquiries, please contact us at:

(212) 685-6242 or press at cinemaguild dot com

###